Mid-century Reading Road (Cincinnati, Norwood, Avon: university, retired, barbers)

[awelliott]

Originally Posted by blockhead

was she pretending to be babysitting? Seems like I saw quite a few little brothers in back seats at Frisch's in the late 60s? Did she buy you a milkshake? I loved those at Frisch's!

Yeah, I suppose she was. Don't remember the milkshakes, but I was quite fond of the cherry cokes!

[Candie928]

I too grew up in the Bond Hill area. We lived on Joseph Street from the mid sixties till my mom moved bout 7 yrs ago to eastgate. I went to Bond Hill, Crest Hills, and then Woodward. We used to cut class and go to Burger Chef on the corner of Reading and Seymour. Does anyone remember Mr Wakeman the gym teacher at Bond hill.? I had Mrs Volkman kng, Mrs Soleman for 1st grade. My high school after school job was at the Bonanza behind the Central Trust building on Reading rd. Our neighbors were the Vaccerellas, Danny the dad ran the pizza place across from White Castle on Reading. My brothers first job was at Brothers Three Pizzaria on the corner of Reading and Tennessee. Me and my sister used to walk to the ice cream parlor on Paddock, just south of Norwood Lateral , I think it was called Berlings. Whats ironic I now run my own small cleaning company, and clean in the same building, which is now Klosterman Bakery`s corporate office. I too have fond memories of walking the neighborhood. Everything you needed was right there. There used to be an IGA on California Avenue, and right across from it was a pony keg where we would buy penny candy. There was the united dairy up a little ways on California, and right next to it was a barber shop that was built under the front of a house, and right across from it was a little tavern that served food. I used to take the bus right at the corner of California and Oberlin the 45 to go to Woodward. We used to have our milk delivered too, and there was a fruit truck I remember that would come down our street and we would buy peaches off of it.

[allmybengals]

Mark's Drug Store was next to Loretta's. Corner of Reading and Avondale Ave. Gluecks was on the Southwest corner of Reading and Clinton Springs.

[goyguy]

It was reported in the Enquirer the other day that an incident had happened at a place called Vito's, at 7750 Reading Rd. Vito's was described as a restaurant, but it's not one I've heard of whether it serves Italian food or "soul" specialties or whatever. With Lenhardt's, Yummie Yummie Deli, and the Fortune Kookie gone, the only non-fast-food eateries I'm aware of around there are Song Long and Amma's Kitchen (nee Udipi.) More importantly - since this is a nostalgia thread first and foremost - what might've occupied that space back in the day?

[Hartwell Girl]

Originally Posted by goyguy

It was reported in the Enquirer the other day that an incident had happened at a place called Vito's, at 7750 Reading Rd. Vito's was described as a restaurant, but it's not one I've heard of whether it serves Italian food or "soul" specialties or whatever. With Lenhardt's, Yummie Yummie Deli, and the Fortune Kookie gone, the only non-fast-food eateries I'm aware of around there are Song Long and Amma's Kitchen (nee Udipi.) More importantly - since this is a nostalgia thread first and foremost - what might've occupied that space back in the day?

Past records show a Mr. Busken as the owner and also Dennys Inc. And to the best of my knowledge (since I have never been inside) the property is a night club.

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by Hartwell Girl

Past records show a Mr. Busken as the owner and also Dennys Inc. And to the best of my knowledge (since I have never been inside) the property is a night club.

One of the earliest Thai restaurants in Cincinnati took over the Denny's,
some time in the 1980's. I think it was called the Thai Orchid.

When did the Denny's go up? - mid 1970's? There was a gas station,
maybe a Mobil, just to the south, which might have been built around
1970. Cannot recall what was on those lots before that. Hartwell Girl:
do you have access to the old "City Directory" from those years?

[Hartwell Girl]

Originally Posted by MiddleCincinnati

One of the earliest Thai restaurants in Cincinnati took over the Denny's,
some time in the 1980's. I think it was called the Thai Orchid.

When did the Denny's go up? - mid 1970's? There was a gas station,
maybe a Mobil, just to the south, which might have been built around
1970. Cannot recall what was on those lots before that. Hartwell Girl:
do you have access to the old "City Directory" from those years?

Nope, just the web friendly hamilton county auditors page...I look under tranfers and can see a date going back to 7/1/1984. You can either search by address or the map. I wish I had an old directory!

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by Hartwell Girl

Nope, just the web friendly hamilton county auditors page...I look under tranfers and can see a date going back to 7/1/1984. You can either search by address or the map. I wish I had an old directory!

If you ever have some time on your hands, you can look at them at the
downtown branch of the library. I contacted them once, and they replied that
they maintained copies going way back - 1950's, 1960's are there, in
particular. They used to go by the name "Williams City Directory", but
are now published by Polk. One really nice feature is the ability to
"walk" down a street, block by block, and see businesses arranged by
address.

I used to work at the Wyoming branch of the library, formerly known as
the "Bonham Branch". They always kept the most recent edition. When
there was nothing else to do, I would sometimes do reverse phone-
number lookups - another feature offered by the Directory.

[goyguy]

I'd've gone to the library myself on this one, but it's an 840-mile trip! The downtown branch is getting reconfigured like nobody's business lately - you can now find the old city directories on the third floor. Last time I was in town during a book sale, I took my folks up there to look in the 1955 edition. They still remembered most of their neighbors from their first apartment as we browsed the names. All the phone numbers were listed in the old-school style of letter-letter-number exchanges (WOodburn 1 = 961 for Walnut Hills, etc.)

Vito's in Roselawn is apparently on the sketchy side, or maybe not that so much as less-than-highbrow LOL. Earlier this year an off-duty Metro bus driver caused a fatal crash at Reading Rd and Losantiville Ave after having had a few too many there. But it's not as though every eating and drinking spot in that area was family-friendly in times gone by: Ron's Hunt Club and the Why Not Lounge are two examples that bely that notion!

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by goyguy

All the phone numbers were listed in the old-school style of letter-letter-number exchanges (WOodburn 1 = 961 for Walnut Hills, etc.)

Oh yes - that way of remembering exchanges seems to have
passed on. "MElrose 1" used to substitute for 631. "JEfferson 1"
used to stand in for 531. Know any more of these?

I remember being told as a kid that, some time in the past,
the 1 was implicit. For example, "MElrose" alone would stand
for 631, as all exchanges used 1 as the third digit. This may have
been a vestige of an even earlier time, when telephone numbers
used only six digits. I don't know - it was before my time. I
do remember seeing an old postcard from the observatory in
Mt. Lookout that used a mnemonic for the exchange, but had
no 1 after it.